Tata Steel Chess: Viswanathan Anand stays unbeaten, mixed day for other Indian GMs

Viswanathan Anand, the reigning world rapid chess champion, drew his sixth straight game in the Tata Steel India 2018 tournament to stay undefeated and have a mid-table placing at number four with three points.              

With three rounds to go on the final day of the rapid meet, Hikaru Nakamura of the United States moved to the joint lead with Levon Aronian with three straight wins. One point adrift is Pentala Harikrishna who drew American Wesley So with the white pieces of the Berlin defence in round six to slip to third place.

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Surya Shekhar Ganguly, from Kolkata,, had a disappointing day as he managed to score only 0.5/3 and went down to Aronian in his last game with the white pieces in the Italian opening.

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Anand looked promising with the Black pieces but Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan had a strong initiative to force a draw.

For Anand, this was the first time since 1992 that he is playing a regular tournament in India. This does not count events like the world championship cycle matches with Gata Kamsky in 1994 in Sanghi Nagar and with Magnus Carlsen in 2013 in Chennai.

India’s mixed day continued when Vidit Gujrati defeated Sergey Karjakin but 14-year-old Nihal Sarin almost created history when he came close to beating Mamedyarov who managed to hold on with some tricks and then ended in perpetual checks on the 60th move.           

"I'm playing quite well here. It's a very good experience. It's my first super tournament and a nice exposure. But I'm not under any extra pressure," Sarin, who is the world number one in U-14 section, said.

This is the first time that India has hosted a super tournament like the Tata Steel Rapid tournament with such a big field.

Results (Round Six): Surya Shekhar Ganguly (1) lost to Levon Aronian (Arm, 4.5); Vidit Gujarati (2.5) beat Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3); Pentala Harikrishna (3.5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3) drew with Viswanathan Anand (3); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 4.5) beat Nihal Sarin (2).

-With PTI Inputs-